Printing-press.



No. 757,967. PATENTED APR. 19, 1904.

D. H. SAUNDERS.

PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 15. 1903.

no MODEL. -4 SHEETB-SHEET 1.

3 WITNESSES: I INVENTOR.

ATTORNEK';

No. 757,967. PATENTED APR. 19, 1904.

D. H. SAUNDERS. PRINTING PRESS.

v APPLICATION FILED JAN. 15. 1903. N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES: LUVVENTOR.

W." MM? 'L/ ATTORNEY.

PATENTED APR. 19, 1904.

D. HJSAUNDERS. PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 15. 1903.

NO 1401131.. 4 SHEETS-SHEET a.

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. a? Jd ATTORNEY.

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No. 757,967. PATENTED APR. 19, 1904. D. H. SAUNDERS.

v PRINTING PRESS.

APPLIGATION nun JAN. 15. 1903 no MODEL. 4 snnnws-snnm 4.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR.

A TTORIIVE y.

me NORRIS Farms co. PHOTO-LITHO.. msumammuic'.

Patented April 19, 1904 UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID H. SAUNDERS, OF GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HANNA V. P.MERCHANT AND AUGUSTA T. SAUNDERS, OF GLOUCES- TEE, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 757,967, dated April19,1904.

Application filed Tanuary 15, 1903- Serial No. 139,117. (No model.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, DAVID H. SAUNDERS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Gloucester, in the county of Essexand State 5 ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPrinting-Presses; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

The present invention relates to printingpresses, and more particularlyto presses of the job-printing type. In presses of this character thereis a fixed type-bed and a moving platen for carrying the sheet of paperto be printed into contact with the type. As a means of placing ink uponthe type it is customary to employ a number of rollers arranged 0 inseries, which rollers are carried over a disk or table upon which theink has been placed, covering their surfaces with ink and transferringit to the bed of type over which the rollers are subsequently moved. 5In the production of high-grade work, such as half-tones and othermatter printed from plates, it has been found necessary to double rollthe plate for each impression taken, for the reason that a singleoperation of the rollers has been insufiicient to uniformly ink thewhole surface of the plate, since the ink on any given roller becomespractically exhaustedafter a complete rotation of the roller over thesurface to be inked, and it is impracticable to use rollers of largediameters. The result of such a single rolling process is streaked anduneven surfaces where the length of the plate is greater than thecircumference of a roller. any expedients, among them being a pyramidalarrangement of rollers, have heretofore been suggested and tried, butwithout successfully attaining the end sought. Because it has beennecessary in the class of work described to move the inking-rollersthrough two complete cycles as often as an impression is made the livesof these rollers have been short and the time consumed very great.

The object of the present invention consists in improved means wherebyin highgrade 5 work the plate may be inked by a single rolling. i

A further object consists in adjusting means whereby the tension on someof the inkingrollers may be varied.

Further objects of the present invention will appear in connection withthe following description.

The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 shows a side elevation of my improved press, some of theordinary attachments being omitted for the sake of clearness. Fig. 2 isa section of the machine, taken at right angles to the main shaft, theink-disk 5 being omitted and the rollers being shown diagrammatically.Fig. 8 is a front elevation looking at the machine from the right-handside of Fig. 1. Fig. A is a rear elevation, the ink-disk being removed.Figs. 5 and 6 show 7 portions of the inking-rollers employed, Fig.

6 being a modification. Fig. 7 is a cross-sew tion through one of therollers. Fig. 8 is a detail view illustrating the carriage in which aremounted the pyramid of inking-rollers. 75

Similar reference characters will be used to ,denote like partsthroughout the specification and drawings.

A represents the frame of the machine, and

this may be of the same type as those now in use, except as theimprovements constituting the present invention necessitate alterations.

B is the driving-shaft, provided with the usual pulleys B and B at oneend thereof and the fly-wheel B at its opposite end. Mo- 8 5 tion istransmitted from the shaft B to a pair of large gears C by means of apair of small pinions 13*, which are mounted on the shaft and which meshwith said gearwheels.

Each gear-wheel C is provided with a cen- 9 trally-projecting shaft orhub C, which is journaled in the frame of the machine, the free ends ofthese hubs projecting slightly through the frame in order to support theroller-wings to be hereinafter described. A

, stiffeningboss C extends radially on the inner face of eachgear-wheel, and a shaft G extends between the gears and has its endssecured thereto'nea'r the outer ends 'of the bosses (1 The shaft C inconnection with the gear-wheels C, forms a crank which transmits motionto the inking-rollers and platen.

when the crank revolves the lever is oscillated about its pivot. Thelever E is connected with the platen D by means of links E E and E E thelinks E E being pivoted at one end to the lever E and supported at theother end upon a shaft- E. This shaft E serves also to support one endofeach of the links E E, which are pivotally secured to the platen. Apair of struts E are mounted at their one end upon the shaft E while attheir other end they are provided with concave bearing-seats fittingagainst bosses A on the frame of the machine and concentric with theshafts or hubs C. A pair of collars e a, secured to each of said struts,surround the ends of said bosses, which project laterally from theframe. The thrust of the struts is therefore taken by a practicallysolid mass of metal, including the bosses A and the hubs C. The links EE are short as compared with the links E E", and the struts E determinethe path of movement of the shaft E namely, in the path of a circlehaving the axis of shafts C for a center. This construction, inconnection with the manner of mounting the lever E, enables the lever toexert what may be termed a constant pull, the links E being alwayspractically tangent to the are through which the pivotal connection withthe leverE moves and the angle between the struts E and links E varyingbut slightly. The relatively great mass of the lever E serves toeffectually counterbalance the heavyplaten, and it has'been found inpractice that at a much higher rate of speed than has heretofore beenattainable the smoothness of action is not impaired.

Fig. 2 shows the parts in the position in which the platen is at theouter end of its stroke. It will-be seen that during the first portionof the rotation of the crank G the le ver E remains practicallystationary, this permitting the operator to remove the printed sheet andreplace it by another. As the crank continues to revolve, however, theline of force between it and the lever changes from the initialdirection,'parallel with the lever, to a substantially perpendiculardirection, causing a great angular velocity of the lever. After rotatingnearly one hundred and eighty degrees the crank-shaft again movesapproximately parallel to the lever, the platen being slowly A pair oflinks E con-- nect the crank-shaft C to this lever, so that 1 andpowerfully pressed against the type. The I distance, enabling theoperator to remove a sheet and replace it by another. l

The links E and struts E are substantially parallel when the platen isin proximity to the type-bed, while the links E are substantiallyperpendicular thereto. The principal stresses are=therefore borne by thelinks E struts E, and shaft v The present invention resides in theinking apparatus herein illustrated.

For ordinary purposes a single layer of inking-rollers answers verywell; but for highgrade work such an arrangement necessitates at least adouble rolling to secure even effects. It has been proposed to use apyramid of rollerstwo, which will hereinafter be referred to asform-rollers, in contact with the surface operated upon, and a third,which will hereinafter be referred to as adistributingroller,frictionally engaging these two. Such an expedientfailed, however,'to give good results, since it was found that notenough friction could be developed to turn all three rolls; but, insteadof revolving, they would slip. If a great tension was placed upon therolls, the slipping was not obviated; but the rollers were torn anddestroyed.

The present invention comprehends means for rendering the use of thepyramidal arrangement practicable, and this is accomplished by causingthe lower rolls to be positively driven as they are reciprocated.

Apair of roller-wings Fare supported upon the outer ends 0 of the hubsor shafts 0,

there being one'wing on each side of the frame. These wings are eachprovided with a series of spring-pressed rods carrying theinking-rollers. In the form of my invention illustrated I employ five ofthese rods f, f

f, f, and f though of course any desired number may be adopted, and thearrangements of the springs may be varied. The two outer rods carryordinary rollers F and F respectively, while the inner group of threerods is joined together and serves to yieldingly support the carriage,in which are mounted the three rollers forming the pyramid. There aretwo of these carriages, one for each wing, and are designated by G. Fig.8 shows in detail one of these carriages with the rollers in place. Thecarriage G consists of a lower frame or saddle G and a detachable cap(33, pivoted thereto at G The frame the rollers and supporting-ways.

and engaging the arm G effectually locks the parts together.

carriage in an expeditious manner, for it is necessary to merely loosenthe thumb-nut, whereupon the cap may be swung back and the upper rollertaken out, while the carriages may be bodily lifted from the lowerrolls. It is of course unnecessary to employ a carriage having a hingedcap at each end of the rollers, since in one of the carriages the saddleand cap may be integral. As a means for adjusting the pressure betweenthe rollers F, F, and I have provided a set-screw G8, threaded through aboss (Pin the carriage-cap andbearing upon the screw-threaded shaft Fupon which the roller F is supported. A lock-nut G holds the screw G inits adjusted positions. The carriage G is secured to the wing F by meansof a'pin g passing through openings g in the carriage-frame, and aregistering-opening in the upper end of the rod f.

It will be seen that by tightening the setscrew G the tendency will beto lift the carriage against the tension of the three intermediatesprings of the wing, thereby forcing the distributing-roller against thesupporting form-rollers F and F. This is a very important feature of myimproved inking mechanism, inasmuch as the roller F may be per mitted tobear upon the rollers F and F with a pressure due to its own weightonly, or, .if desired, the set-screw may be so adjusted as to bring theentire tension of the three intermediate springs to press the roller Fagainst its supporting-rollers. When thin inks are employed, it is ofcourse obvious that the pressure between the three rollers should besmall,

while with thick inks considerable pressure is desirable. The pressuresat opposite ends of the rollers may be adjusted independently of eachother. As was stated previously, this pyramidal arrangement of rollershas not been a success heretofore; but I have found that by giving thelower are formed rollers F and F* a positive rotary movement as they areadvanced the obstacles preventing the use of such arrangement areovercome. This result may be accomplished in several ways,either byfrictional engagement of an adequate character or else by means of atoothed connection between In the preferred form of my inventionfrictional engagement is employed.

This construction provides a means for removing all the rollers from theThe rollers F, F F and F consist, preferably, of a shaft F carrying acylinder F of the composition usually employed for inking-rollers, thepart F being of a length sufficient to extend entirely across the bed.Splined to each end of this shaft is a truck F; the trucks running uponways A and A provided therefor adjacent the bed.

In Figs. 1-5 and 7 I have shown the rollertrucks as being provided withgrooves f, extending circumferentially thereof.

In Fig. 5 the walls f and f of the grooves converge to a point, whilethe projection formed by adjacent grooves is flattened, as at f. Theways A and A upon which the ends of the rollers run, are likewisegrooved, as at a, the surfaces (4', a and a corresponding to thesurfaces f f and f onthe rollers. In Fig. 7 the grooves are shown asending in a channel f in order to prevent bottoming of the componentparts. In thisconstruction the rollers and ways are in engagement onlythroughout the inclined walls of the grooves, so that the greater thepressure upon the rollers the greater will be the wedging action andresulting resistance to the passage of the rollers. As the rollers aremoved along these ways, therefore, they are given a positive rotarymovement,"'and the three rollers F F and F will be tied together, as itwere, giving the eifect'of one large roller of a circumference equalsubstantially to that of the three. p A The distributing-roller Fcomprises, preferably, a hollow cylinder of steel or other metal screwthreaded upon its shaft F whereby as the carriage moves and the lowerrollers revolve and the roller F is frictionally driven therefrom it isgiven also an axial movement, causing a more uniform distribution of theink. Besides causing a positive rotary movement to be given to theinkingrollers the intermeshin parts on the rollertrucks and the wayslilild the lower rollers against lateral or axial movements, which wouldotherwise be very aptto occur, because of theaxial movement imparted tothe upper roller through said lower rollersl In Fig. 6 I have shown amodification in which the rollers are provided with gearteeth F, theways A and A being in that case also provided with teeth. The wings Fare operated by means of connections with the crank-shaft C". A pair oflinks F donnect the crank-shaft C with levers F mount ed in the frame ofthe machine. A shaft F unites the levers F and carries at its ends apair of links F which are pivoted to/arms F projecting from the wings F.As the shaft B revolves its motion is converted into an oscillatorymovement of the platen/and of the wings.

It is thought that the operation of the various parts has beensufiiciently set forth in connection with the preceding description, andno further expositionthereof is deemed necessary. v

The platen and the inking-rollers are both operated from the samecrank-shaft, thereby lessening the number of parts required.

The inking mechanism reduces by one-half the time necessary to ink theform in highgrade Work and the number of strokes necessary therefor, thelife of the rollers being prolonged and more uniformity being secured.

The superimposing of the metallic distributing-roller above and betweenthe lower composition form-rollers obviates a difficulty which hasheretofore been experienced inthe inking mechanism on presses of thejob-printing type. The composition rollers during theoperation of themachine become warm and soften or melt, as it is termed, permit-.

ting a flattening of the rollers this being augmented by the tension onthe rollers. In the common arrangement of rollers heretofore employedthis melting has been frequently sufiicient to cause adjacent rollers tocontact with and to adhere to each other, causing pieces to be torn fromthe surfaces thereof. In my arrangement the metallic roller separatesthe composition rollers and prevents such contact and consequent damage.

Having described my invention, I claim as new'and desire to protect byLetters Patent of the United States 1. A printing-press having incombination,

form-rollers, means for moving said rollers bodily over the form, meansfor positively rotating said rollers, and a distributing-roller restingupon and frictionally driven by said form-rollers, substantially asdescribed.

2. A printing-press having in combination, a fixed bed, grooved waysadjacent said bed, form-rollers provided with ribs for engaging saidgrooved ways, a distributing-roller resting upon and frictionally drivenfrom said form-rollers, and means for moving said rollers across thebed, substantially as described.

3. A printing-press having in combination, form-rollers and adistributing-roller arranged above and between said form-rollers, aspring-held support for said rollers, means for subjecting thedistributing-roller to the full tension of said spring or to any partthereof, and means for positively rotating said form-rollers,substantially as described.

. 4. A printing-press having in combination, form rollers and adistributing roller arranged above and between said form-rollers, aspring-held support for said rollers and means for subjecting thedistributing-roller to the full tension of the spring or to any partofsuch tension, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID H. SAUNDERS. Witnesses:

WM. F. FRENDENREICH, S. L. MERCHANT.

